Equity markets start to regain momentum

Privatisations and IPOs expected to feed recovering corporate sector

By

Nigel Dudley

May 15, 2000 5:00 p.m. GMT

In August 1998 the Russian crisis destroyed international investor confidence in the entire region, sending the bond and equity markets of Central and Eastern Europe into a tailspin. A mere 18 months later, however, these markets are starting to regain their momentum. But it is likely to be the year of the 'selective investors' who choose the countries and companies with much more care than did many in the mid-1990s.

A steady flow of privatisations and initial public offerings (IPOs) from the corporate sector is expected this...